Arichonan Clearance Village
Arichonan clearance village sits on the slopes of Gleann a Gealbhan in Argyll. The walk up to the village was described on the sign as strenuous and with the high humidity of the morning, I was really dreading being a sweaty mess. It is actually a fairly easy 10 minute climb before the path evens out and you are rewarded with beautiful views over Caol Scotnish. I was however still a sweaty mess.
Arichonan is recorded as being occupied from the 1600s but people were occupying this land for many centuries before that. In summer, families would live with their animals in shielings built in the high pastures. The name Arichonan actually means ‘Conan’s Shieling’ (likely dedicated to St Conan).
After the Jacobites lost at Culloden the British state focused on crushing the clan system and along with it, much of Scotland’s culture, including the Gaelic language. Alongside that came the Highland Clearances which decimated communities that thrived in places like Arichonan. Although life was hard, in the 1800s Arichonan was part of a flourishing network of five communities in this area which shared a school, a grain mill and were connected to a network of Drover’s routes that ran all the way to Falkirk.
After having received notice to “flit and remove themselves” on 4th April 1848, these communities came together on 27th May to violently resist the removal of Arichonan tenants. At this point, it was probably clear that all settlements would meet the same fate, and so, armed with sticks and stones, over one hundred people fought the estate officials and local police. But the landowners were backed by the Crown, so longterm there was no real way for residents to stop the tides of change.
As a drystone waller, Arichonan is a very special place. The drystone is exceptional. Beautiful stone, beautifully built. Several structures still stand as well as many animal pens including a sheep fold. The stonework is either dry or fixed with a clay mortar.
At the top of the village is a very special structure. A small winnowing barn with ‘Knapdale windows’. Below you can see the gable end of this barn with several protruding through stones.
Winnowing is the process of removing chaff from the grain by allowing a breeze to blow through it. Below you can see one of the unique knapdale windows. These windows are triangular in shape and placed on each side of the barn which allowed a cross breeze (but not too much breeze) to dry the grains that were stored there.
Although there is a date on the lintel of the barn saying 1833, how these buildings evolved is hard to track. It is likely that they were added to, or built on top of, over hundreds of years.
Something that is immediately apparent at Arichonan is how well equipped the residents were in terms of building stone, and how skilled they were at building with it. The corner below is a great example, the corner stones tie in so far to the rest of the wall which is ideal. There are also many, many throughs. Stones of this size are usually hard to come by. It’s always amazing to travel in Scotland in the summer, but the bracken and grasses were so high, I think we missed a lot of the details in the buildings as they were lost to greenery.
We spent a long time at the village, in the high summer grass soaking up the atmosphere, exploring the many paths between buildings and enjoying the views towards Loch Sween.
On the walk back down, returning step by step to 2024, the sun caught a dried fern frond in its glare, and it looked to me like a small bonfire. How fitting for the end of this trip in the Gleann a Gealbhan which (after extensive research) I believe means Glen of the bonfire or burning in Gaelic.
